Far North Holdings provides an update every two weeks for the Paihia community on technical and operational aspects of the Paihia Waterfront Redevelopment Project.

Wave and hydrodynamic modelling

Detailed wave and hydrodynamic modelling is now complete. This vital work has been done by MetOcean and Beca. The results will determine the exact shape and dimensions of the breakwaters and groynes, and assess any potential change in currents with the construction of these structures. At this stage we expect the report to be finalised before the end of March and it will be made available through the Steering Group and on the Far North Holdings website.

Detailed design – marine structures

Detailed design work continues. We now expect to be able to release tenders for the project by May.

We completed last week the marine archaeological survey dive in the proposed breakwater locations. This survey is required by the resource consent to identify if any artefacts are present in the proposed breakwater locations. A mana whenua representative was on hand to brief the archaeology/dive team beforehand and we extended an offer to meet after every dive. The diver has also said that he would be glad to meet with hapū to describe the underwater landscape as a debrief and we will be extending that offer, formally, very shortly. We will receive a written report from the archaeologist who was present throughout the dive period. We will make this report available on our website.

The design team, FNHL staff, Waka Kotahi and Council have attended a Safety in Design workshop to cover the construction of the breakwaters, beach, promenade and footpaths. This to ensure that safety, maintenance and ongoing access considerations are built into the design of not just the final product, but also into each stage of the development process.

Design – waterfront redevelopment

We understand from the community steering group that it will be publicising very shortly the details of the community consultation process to gather input into what the redesigned waterfront should look like, the facilities it should include and various other aspects of the design.